Special ablitlies
by Miss Buch
Summary: Emma is an alpha with an ability that has caused her many problems. Dr Rosen picks her up and tries to help by asking her to join the team. What adventures will occur as a result for Emma and the rest of the team?
1. New Faces

Emma woke up. Her eyes opened slowly and she saw a white tiled ceiling above her. She tried to move her arm to brush the hair out of her face but it wouldn't move. She looked down and saw that her arms were tied down. She pulled against them but nothing happened. She realised her legs were also tied down. Her brow furrowed in confusion. Emma moved her head about to try and survey the room. It was a clean, brightly lit, private hospital room. The shutters on the windowed walls were all closed. She was getting more and more frustrated – she wanted to be out of here. The various monitors and machines she was hooked up to started to beep faster and louder. She started to struggle against the bonds that were holding her down. A moment later several masked men in scrubs hurried in a she continued to fight against the ties and her eyes widened in panic.

"Let me out of here! Why the fuck am I tied down?! Let m-" her shouts were muffled by a latex gloved hand clamping over her mouth. Several more pairs of hands pushed down on her arms and legs after she broke one of them in her struggling. She was dimly aware of a sharp stinging sensation in her right elbow. Emma managed to turn her head to see a syringe full of clear liquid being emptied into her arm. She screamed against the hand on her mouth and her left leg kicked its way out of the strap and knocked over one of the men. She carried on fighting and managed to knock over a couple more of the doctors before her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell unconscious back into the bed, a little blood spilling from her mouth where she had bitten her tongue.

When she awoke the second time she wasn't alone. There was a man standing next to her bed holding a chart and staring at it intently. He was probably in his mid-fifties; he looked fit and had a fair bit of grey hair

"How are you?" she was cautious – she didn't want what happened before to happen again

"Ah, Emma you're awake. I'm Dr Rosen. I'm here to help you"

"Could you untie me please? I'm not going to hurt anyone and I promise I won't try to escape" his kind eyes stared into her blue ones for a moment and he undid the bindings that were holding her arms and legs down

"Thank you" she massaged her wrists a little as she sat up properly. The Dr sat down in a chair next to her

"Now, I'm sure that you have lots of questions to ask so I would like to you to ask them and then you can answer a few of mine"

"Where am i?"

"In a hospital in America"

"How did I get to America?"

"Some people that I know but don't approve of brought you here"

"Why?"

"Because of your alpha ability"

"My what? I thought that was just some made up utube video"

"Oh it is very real. It is a mutation in your gene structure that has given you some extraordinary abilities" he stood up and started pacing. "In most people the brain produces dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine as what you would call anger. All hormones balance each other out so people brains are constantly producing these. All the level are regulated to avoid mental problems. Except for you. You produce a much higher concentration which doesn't dissipate like it's supposed to and the levels aren't regulated. It all comes at once or builds up over time which causes-"

"My episodes" she interrupted as the realisation hit her

"You gave them a name?"

"Of course I have – this has been happening since I was ten. I-I hurt my cousin so bas she was in hospital with a coma for a week. And I don't remember any of it. I only know because my parents told me what happened afterwards

"Has anyone tried to help you with this?"

"I've been taken to various psychiatrists – 23 to be exact – they had to keep moving me about because I had episodes in their rooms and hurt them. Some put me on medication but they gave me rally bad mood swings and short term memory loss" the doctor sat down again

"Emma. I want to help you. But you are going to have trust me ok? A friend of mine is going to talk to you – she has a special ability as well. She's going to try to help you to remember. Ok?" Dr Rosen got up and opened the door – a tall, dark haired woman walked in.

"Emma. I'm Nina"

"Hello" Nina turned to Dr Rosen

"She's British?" he nodded. She frowned slightly then dispelled the look on her face. She took Rosen's place in the chair and held Emma's left hand

"Now Emma. I want you to think back a few days. Emma could fell the woman kind of pushing her thoughts "what happened during the day"

"My alarm didn't go off at 6:30 like it was supposed to so I missed my normal train to school. The next one didn't come for ages so I was late for school. I got shouted at by my teacher for being late. In my rush to get the train I left some of my homework behind so I got into trouble for that too. I got detention so I had to stay afterschool for an hour and a half."

"What happened next?"

"when I final got home I sat down to do some work but my dad came in yelling at me for getting detention again. He doesn't really understand my problems" Emma hand suddenly gripped Nina's and she winced "oh my god – i-I killed my dad" she started shaking violently as she clawed at Nina's hand. "n-no not you too mum!" she started to cry. Nina was crying too – she could feel all these poor girl's thoughts. She tried to pull her hand away but Emma wouldn't let go. Rosen moved forward and pulled their arms apart. Emma fell back onto the bed, curling up into a ball beneath the covers. Nina looked at the welts forming on her wrist where Emma had held her.

"Are you ok?"

"That poor girl. No wonder the DoD brought her over here. She wasn't having a good week. That day just made it worse and then she just snapped. That explains the repression – no one should ever have to remember that" she wiped her eyes with sleeve of her black cardigan. "so what now?"

"we take her to the office. I want her to meet the others – she needs to know that she is not alone and that there are others like her. perhaps if I can help her work on her ability she might be able to control it better"

"Emma?" Nina asked

"No! I don't want to remember anymore!" she whispered from under the blanket

"Emma, please we want to help you"

"don't you get it? I killed my parents! Do you know what that makes me? I can't go home or anywhere! I'm dangerous" her body started to convulse with sobs again.

"Emma look at me" her voice was laden with her pushing power. A pair of re rimmed eyes poked out from under the blanket. "sleep. Please" Emma tried to fight it but she felt her thoughts being over powered and she fell asleep.


	2. Learning a little more

Chapter 2

Emma spent the next few days floating in and out of consciousness. Someone came in a fed her occasionally. She wasn't really aware of anything that was happening around her – the worlds was just fuzzy to her eyes. When Emma woke up for a properly for the second time, but she wasn't tied down now. She opened her eyes and looked around blurrily. She took a moment to let vision clear. She was lying down, wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She could feel the padded exam bed through the fabric of her t-shirt. Sitting up she surveyed the room properly. Most of the walls were just windows covered with shutters. There was an exam table and several glass cupboards dotted around the room. All the shutters were closed. She got up from the bed and tried to open the door. She pulled at the door handle, but it was locked. She saw someone walking by. He was wearing a hoody and his hands were fiddling about with something she couldn't see in the air. She knocked on the glass to try and get his attention. He didn't seem to notice her and kept on walking. She continued to know on the door in the vain hope that someone would hear her and open it. A short dark skinned woman hurried around the corner to see what the noise was. She had straight, long brown hair and her eyes widened when she saw Emma. She held up one slim finger, motioning for her to wait a second. She scurried off again and came back a couple of minutes later with Dr Rosen. He unlocked the door and both he and the other woman entered.

"Hello Emma. How are you feeling?"

"miserable, tired, but otherwise fine"

"Emma, this is Rachel. She also has a special ability – it's called synethesia"

"can I take a wild guess? Something to do with heightened senses?"

"well done." Rachel stepped forward and shook hands with Emma.

"err, hi Emma. Do you mind if I take a look at you" Emma frowned slightly in fear and then relaxed. Rachel smiled at her, and then breathed deeply, focusing just on her eyes. Her other senses darkened and went completely dead. She stared at Emma's head and she saw skin and blood cells. Rachel went passed the cells and along Emma's synapses in her brain. A dark ugly green liquid flitted past, along the nerves and sunk into grey matter. Rachel frowned; there was a lot of it floating about. There were a few other colour liquids around, but there was so much less of them and the colours were much paler. Rachel let go and snapped back to normal.

"Rachel, are you ok?" Dr Rosen asked concern clear on his face.

"no, I'm fine. But you?" she looked hard at Emma "it's horrible in there!" Emma shrank back a little "no! no I didn't mean it like that. It's just; there is so much anger in there! How do you cope?"

"Repression" she replied bluntly. Rachel felt so sorry for the girl. She felt Rosen's hand on her shoulder

"thank you Rachel. You can go now" Rachel turned around and left the room.

"what are you going to do with me?" Rosen could hear the slight quiver in her voice

"nothing. Don't worry. Will you come with me? I have a few questions to ask you" she nodded. Dr Rosen opened the door and let her through. Rosen lead her along a corridor, passed several more offices and into an office most covered by bookshelves. "this is my office. Please take a seat" he motioned to a comfortable looking armchair. She sat quietly as Dr Rosen fumbled about behind her and then brought around a camera and tripod. "I hope you don't mind if I record this conversation? As a psychiatrist I like to have all conversations with patients of disc so I can check for things" she nodded and he finished setting up the camera. He pressed record and then sat in a chair opposite her.

"Right Emma, do you mind if I ask how old you are?"

"I'm 18 – I turn nineteen in two months"

"and you're still at school?"

"yes. I finish my A levels right before my birthday" Rosen paused for a moment to write this down.

"do you have any siblings?"

"no. my mother had me quite late and after that she hit menopause so no more kids" he nodded

"and when did you start to understand that you had your alpha ability"

"it's kind of a long story" she seemed reluctant to tell him

"it's alright we have plenty of time" she sighed leaning back in the chair a little.

"I was ten when it first happened. We were having a big family gathering for Christmas and everyone was there. I liked all of my family apart from this one cousin – her name was Sarah. She was the bullying type – rude, obnoxious, humiliating me whenever she got the chance. She's two years older than me and I had never liked her. our family lived relatively near to each other so we visited everybody quite often. At the Christmas gathering we always go to my grandparent's house because it's the biggest. I had been looking forward to this party for a while. I had gotten very excited because my mum had bought me this really lovely green dress of the occasion. Anyway we got to the party before Sarah, but when she and my aunt and uncle entered she actually knocked me over (on purpose) although to everyone else it looked 'accidental'. Throughout the rest of the day she knocked over two vases and trampled on people's presents and blamed all of it on me. Of course no-one believes a ten year old when faced with an argument from someone older than she is. At some point during late afternoon everyone gathered around the table. The adults – very stupidly I must add-placed Sarah and I together. She had known for a while how much I was looking forward to wearing that dress, so while no one was looking; she picked up her mother's wine glass and tipped red wine all down my new green dress." She paused

"go on"

"that's all I remember. After that I have a blank spot and then me waking up at my parents' house. It turns out that I just went crazy on her. she hit her head on the stone floor of the kitchen and fell unconscious. She was in a coma for a week. Even now none of her family will talk to us."

"what happened after that?"

"my mum took me to see psychiatrists and drug specialist to see if they could work out what was wrong with me. Nobody knew. They tried to give me techniques to calm me down but they didn't work. What people don't understand is that I'm not in control of my own body during my episodes so I can't stop myself. It's like I forget everyone and everything around me. I don't recognise people. After a couple of years I started to be able to know when one was coming but it would only be maybe ten seconds before it started at most. I-I… I told my dad to run" she didn't cry now, she didn't think she still could.

"Emma you are something called a neurotransthete" she raised an eyebrow "some of your neurotransmitters are much stronger than others and therefore overpower the others. That's why you have your episodes. There are many thousands of other Alphas around the world and a few of them are on my team. You have already met two of them. Nina is an influencer – she can influence people's thoughts. "

"who was the boy who walked past earlier? He was wearing a hoody and was fiddling with something in the air"

"oh that's Gary. He is a transducer – he can read electromagnetic wavelengths. He's also autistic" Emma smiled a little to herself

"I was going to study autism at university. It has always been an area of special interest to me"

"There is also Cameron Hicks who is a hyperkinetic - he has perfect aim, balance and enhanced motor skills. Kat is a relatively new member – she is an adomapathic Alpha. In other words she has perfect muscle memory. The last is Bill Harken. He is an ex FBI agent and a hyperadrenal – he can enhance his speed and strength at will."

"so that's your team?"

"yes. and since you don't really have anywhere to go I was wondering if you would like to join the team"

"just like that? Isn't there paper work and tests and things?"

"can you fight if needs be? Or use a gun?" Rosen didn't expect her to have done either of these things

"Yes" Rosen's eyebrows shot up his head "Bill" he shouted. A large black man came around the door and poked his shaved head in

"Doc. What's up?"

"Bill this is Emma." Bill extended a hand for her which she shook "bill I want you to take Emma out for a little test run. If you would just help me move my desk" Rosen turned off the camera and bill helped him to push the desk towards the far side of the room "I want you to fight Emma without using your Alpha ability. Emma I want you to fight Bill also without your ability. If you start to feel it coming on, please say something" Emma's eyes widened in surprise she had never fought another person properly before. Either way she stood her ground and took a fight stance. Bill was having second thoughts – this girl, she didn't look the fighting type. She was slim and not overly tall and not particularly muscular from what he could see. But then again Kat had a very similar build and she beat the crap out of him the last time they had fought. Bill launched himself forward with a strong right hook. Emma simply bent over backwards, placed her hands on the floor and pushed her legs upwards, kicking Bill in the jaw. She flipped over and stood again in her fighting stance ready for Bill's next shot.


	3. Meeting the team

Bill reeled back in surprise – this girl was good. He rotated his jaw a little and heard it click.

"Oh I'm sorry, are you ok?" she dropped her arms down

"I'm fine. You ready?" she nodded and raised her fists. Bill jumped forward, intending to tackle her but when he got close enough, Emma placed her hands on his shaved head and leap frogged over his body. He kept on going with his own momentum and crashed to the floor. She landed on her feet and turned quickly her hands still raised. Bill got up quickly ready to fight again. Emma moved forward this time to punch him but he caught her fist and then the rest of her arm with his other hand. He lifted her up a couple of feet in the air, so that all of her weight was held on her right arm. She grit her teeth a little as she tried to keep herself upright. She used her other hand to reach for the arm that was holding her elbow. She grabbed the nerve cluster at the base of his elbow and pressed, hard. The rest of his arm spasmed and released her. She twisted her right arm out of his grip, dislocating his thumb in the process. He grunted in pain as Emma dropped to the carpet.

"Bugger, sorry" she apologised

"I think we should stop now" said Rosen.

"Hang on, I can fix it. Give me your hand" Bill looked at her distrustfully for a moment and then held out his hand. Rosen stepped forward to look. She stared at his hand for a moment and then placed her slim hands over his large one. Pressing her thumbs into the joint she twisted sharply, forcing the bones back into place. Bill squeezed his eyes shut and breathed out deeply.

"Thank you"

"Emma where did you learn to do that?" Rosen frowned

"What?"

"The fighting, the knowledge of anatomy? Um, Bill you can go now" Bill walked out of the room, massaging his thumb a little. They both sat down and Emma said

"I have never really fought an actual person before. I mean I had martial arts lessons, at my doctor's advice to help to try and get rid of my excess aggression. I liked to practice at home just in my bedroom. I didn't have anything actual that I could hit, so I used my imagination to help me. Now I know that was a good idea."

"And the anatomy?"

"I like Biology." She shrugged "I did a lot of wider reading. I could just as easily paralysed him" Dr Rosen nodded.

"So would you like to join my team?"

"Yes. But there may be some problems with this system"

"Like what?"

"First, I have nowhere to live. I'm going to have to change my name because I'm officially a murderer. I don't have any money and now I will be missing out on my A-level qualifications"

"Hm. Well for now I suppose you could live in The Office until you sort out our current situation. We can help you to find somewhere you can live. We can get your name changed, although it might be easier just to change your surname as Emma is quite a common name. You will get paid for working here with us and the pay is pretty decent. I'm sure Rachel or Nina would lend you some of their old clothes and toiletries"

"You would really do all that for me?" her brow furrowed

"There are only two things I want you to do. One: you help us by joining the team. And I want you to come a few therapy sessions a week, with me. All of us want to help you Emma, please place your faith in us"

"Ok. But what now?"

"We are going to formally introduce you to the rest of the team." She nodded. "I'll be back in a moment" Rosen left his office and quickly poked his head around various doors to get everyone gathered in the conference room. When he was done, he paused for a moment, running his fingers through his greying hair. Emma was a good person, he could see that. But her power made her a huge liability. He had already seen that she was strong and skilled but if her Alpha ability kicked in she could kill all of them by accident. Perhaps with the right kind of treatment he could help her. Rosen went back into his office and Emma followed him to the conference room.

Nina, Gary, Bill, Hicks, Kat, Rachel and John were sitting in the conference room together. Bill was looking back on the fight he had had with Emma, trying to work out how she had beaten him. John and Rachel, who had been seeing each other for a while now, were thinking one another. Kat was filming everything on the phone that Rosen had given her. Emma walked in with Rosen and Gary frowned at her

"Everybody, this is Emma. She is an Alpha who is going to be working with us"

"Hello" she said quietly. Emma was very nervous. She had only met three of the seven people at the table and one of them was frowning at her a lot. John stood up and held out his hand to her

"Hi, I'm John" she shook his hand "What's your ability?"

"She's a neurotransthete"

"Ahh a neurotransthete" said another man sitting at the far end of the table. He had a round face and a shaven head – Emma assumed he was the one that Rosen had said was Cameron Hicks. Everyone sitting at the table turned to look at him. He rolled his eyes "com'on doc, what's a neurotransthete?"

"Emma produces much higher concentrations of certain hormones. As a result there are times when she becomes overcome by the emotions and various events occur"

"You're weird" said Gary very loudly. This time everyone turned to look at him. Rachel shushed him

"Gary that's rude"

"Buts it's true. She has her own signal. Nobody has their own signal, it doesn't work like that" John sat down. Gary's hands played with the signals for a moment, the different colours moving about in front of his eyes.

"Emma is technically homeless at the moment and owns nothing, so would you girls mind lending her some clothes and toiletries until she sorts herself out?" Kat, Nina and Rachel nodded "and she will be living in the office for a little while until she finds herself somewhere to stay"

"No she can't stay here" Gary piped up

"Why?" she asked

"Because I live here. You can't live here too, you will break my routine"

"Maybe if you tell me what your routine is, I can work around it?" he frowned at her again, pursing his lips, not sure what to say.

"We have a spare office next to Rachel's, that can be your office and you can live in there for now. Ok?"

"Thank you"

"Bill what's wrong with your hand?" the small blond woman, she thought was Kat, asked.

"Oh nothing. My thumb just got dislocated"

"How?"

"I was in a fight"

"With who?"

"With me" Emma interjected.

"Aww did you get beaten up by a girl again?"

"Hey, that is not fair" he growled at her.

"Nice work" Kat directed at Emma, pointing her camera phone at her. Rachel stood up

"I'll show you to your office and the bathroom." Rachel led Emma out of the room. Bill stood up

"What are the downsides to her powers?" he had to know. Rosen paused

"She can't control her ability. It comes every now and then. The lengths of her episodes vary. She has a lot of repression."

"What else?" Bill asked. Rosen glanced at Nina who already knew

"She killed her parents" Nina said. John's eyes widened. Kat nearly dropped her phone "it was an accident"

"How the hell is that 'an accident'?"

"She is not in control of herself when she has episodes. She didn't even know that she had killed them until I pushed her to help her remember" hicks stood up as well

"If she uses her ability here, she could kill us, you do understand that doc?"

"Yes, Cameron I do. But I think I can help her."

"You thought you could help Dani too" his eyes flashed in anger

"I know Cameron. I am not letting Emma go to Binghamton"

"Fine" he muttered and walked out of the room. Rosen sighed – sometimes he really did hate himself.

"Thank you everyone, you can get back to your jobs now" everyone filed out of the office – Kat was still ribbing Bill for getting beaten up by a girl and Rosen smiled to himself. He went around the corner to Emma's new room. He paused before entering – he could see she was completely absorbed in something. It looked like she was drawing. He watched her for a moment and then tapped on the door. She looked up, startled and tried to hide the piece of paper.

"Can I see what you were doing?" She sighed, holding out the paper. Rosen looked down at a half drawn picture of himself. It was very good. His eyebrows raised

"Do you like drawing, Emma?"

"Yes. I was doing an A level in art before, well…" She trailed off. "It's kind of a calming thing that I do. It helps a little bit" Rosen smiled at her.

"Can you finish this and then give it to me when you're done? I think you've already started your own therapy"


	4. People can't have signals

Emma liked her office. It was clean and well furnished with a desk and small sofa in the corner. There was a computer and an empty book case. She sat down in the desk chair and turned on the computer. It had never been used before so she gave it a password for herself and sorted out the basic things that she would need. Emma went onto the internet and looked up flats in the area to see if she could find somewhere cheap to stay. She found a couple of places and wrote them down so that she could check them out later. She looked down at the piece of paper that she had been drawing on. She picked up the pencil and began to finish sketching the other side of Dr Rosen's face. She felt herself relax just a little as she filled in his eyes. They were so full of kindness. She kept drawing for a while until she was interrupted.

"Emma, that's your name right?" she looked up to see Gary poking his head around her office door. She put her pencil down next to the paper

"Yes"

"Here is a paper copy of my routine. I also have it on this USB so you can download it" he passed her a single sheet of paper, covered with a timetable. He got up at 7:42, screamed and then called his mother at 8:00. Then he had breakfast, greeted everyone else at 9:00. At 3:14 he called his mother again at work. He went to bed at 9:30.

"That seems perfectly reasonable. Um, Gary, can I talk to you for a moment?" Gary looked at the clock in the corner of her office

"I can talk to you for 15 minutes before I need to call my mom" he walked in and sat on her sofa, closing the door behind him. Emma noticed that his lips always seemed to be pursing and unpursing as he played with the electromagnetic signals.

"Autism has always been quite an interesting subject for me. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"Dr Rosen is my psychiatrist; you're not supposed to help me"

"I'm not trying to help you. I just want to know more about it and some of your views. If I can help you on the way then that is just a bonus"

"Ok" he continued to frown at her

"Where do you fall on the CARs scale?"

"32."

"Ok so the lower end" his fingers clicked as he fiddled with the lines running past his eyes. Emma paused

"w-what do the signals look like?"

"They're coloured lines. Bright colours"

"You said earlier that I had a signal?"

"Yes"

"What does my signal look like?"

"It's blue. Like a bright blue, like the W in the word document icon. It kind of radiates off you in waves, like-like the way sand looks underwater when the undercurrent gets it" she smiled at that. Her signal sounded nice

"But you said that people couldn't have their own signals?" he nodded. Pausing for a moment she picked up the pencil and drew in a few more of Dr Rosen's hairs. As she was shading he said "and on a different but not entirely unrelated topic, can I ask you why you scream after you get up at 7:42 but before you call your mother at 8:00?"

"I scream because I need to. I stopped living with my mom because it scares her. Screaming helps me"

"Do you know what caused it?"

"No! I don't want to answer that question" Gary suddenly changed in Emma's eyes. One moment he was calm and all of a sudden he was highly agitated. He started talking over her as she tried to say something. He got up and left, still talking to himself. Emma thought she heard

"Still can't have your own signal…" Emma sighed quietly to herself. This was not going to go well.

Kat checked the time on the clock in the office. Rosen had asked her to come and see him today. She dragged the picture she had done of the woman she suspected was her mother. Kat carried it out of the room and along the thinly carpeted corridor to Dr Rosen's office. Rosen looked up from Emma's file to see Kat carrying what used to be one of the plastic cover boards. But she had placed a large sheet of paper inside and drawn on top of the plastic in marker pen. He closed the card cover of the file as Kat stood in front of the picture, just staring at it.

"Is that her?" Rosen asked, getting up out of his worn office chair to take a closer a look. The woman was tall, wearing a blue dress, with hair that fell past her shoulders. She looked a bit like Kat.

"Yeah" she said with a quiet sigh. Kat sat down, still staring at the picture. Rosen also sat down, opposite and watched the young woman for a moment

"Kat you've been here for a while now" she said nothing in reply "can you remember how long?" she turned her gaze on him

"Nope" she said brightly

"Have you remembered anything else from your past? I know you remember that short sequence involving your mother. Was anything triggered by that knife you were given?"

"No. I mean, I remember the knife. Well I remember what I did with it."

"Can you do it again?"

"Sure" Kat got up, tucking a few stray strands of blond hair behind her ear and sat in Dr Rosen's office chair. She found several pieces of lined paper and put them in front of her – she didn't want to mark the desk. Kat placed her left hand on the little pile of paper, spreading her fingers wide, and flicked out the knife. Rosen watched in amazement as she repeatedly stabbed the knife into the gaps in between her fingers. She started of relatively slow, but got faster and faster in front of his eyes. She reached her top speed and then stopped. She put the knife away as Rosen pulled out the top piece of paper. There were six small holes in between where her fingers had been. Where the knife had landed in that space had never changed, Rosen realised – she hit exactly the same spot every time.

"Wow. That was incredible"

"Not really. I've seen someone else do it before"

"Of course you have. That's why you can do it so quickly and precisely" Kat said nothing for a while, she seemed to be lost in thought.

"Can you find her?" she said suddenly. Rosen was a little surprised at the request

"i-I don't know, maybe…" he trailed off. Her green eyes stared into his brown ones for a moment and then she looked back at the picture. "Kat" he said placing a hand on her shoulder "I will do my utmost to find your mother. Alright?" she nodded. She got up to leave and took hold of the handle of the board. "Do you mind if I keep that?" Rosen asked

"Sure" she let go and left it by the wall. Kat left, still thinking about the woman that might be her mother. She was so lost in thought she walked straight into Gary, who promptly fell over in astonishment. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Gary" she moved to help him up, trying to catch his hand to pull him up, but he slapped her away

"Don't touch me; I don't like to be touched"

"Ok" she backed away a little, holding her hands up in surrender "are you alright?"

"No! Why does she have a signal?! No one can have a signal! You don't, I don't, Bill doesn't! I don't like it!"

"Whoa hold on there" she moved a little closer to him as he frowned in anger at the lines floating in front of his eyes. Rosen had heard some of the commotion and came out to see what was wrong.

"Are you alright Gary?" He came over. Gary didn't say anything to him, he just kept muttering to himself.

"He doesn't like that the new girl has a signal. It's freaking him out a bit"

"Her name is Emma, Kat." He directed his attentions to Gary "Gary, listen to me" Gary kept waving his hands about in front of his face "Gary!" he said louder, snapping his fingers in front of his face. Gary's pupils dilated then focused on Rosen "there are some things that we can't explain ok? One of them is why Emma has a signal. I don't know why yet, but I am trying to find out. For the meantime just try to ignore it, alright? When I work it out you'll be the first to know" Gary hunched his shoulders, still unhappy. "Everything's going to be fine. Just go back into your office and relax for a moment" Gary shuffled off, still talking to himself. Rosen disappeared back into his office and Kat went into hers. Rosen leaned back in his chair massaging his temples lightly. He could feel a headache coming on.


	5. We are all here for you

Hey people, I'm sorry this is a short one, but the next one will be much longer and more exciting - I just wanted to get in touch with Hicks' softer side...

And thank you for all the views, please R&R!

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Hicks shut his office door behind him and practically fell into his chair. He ran his fingers through his short brown hair – he was exhausted. He hadn't slept last night; all he could think about was Dani. He just couldn't take it in. Dani was dead. What was he supposed to do? Where did he go from here? He was angry and confused and so, so sad. He missed the way she smelled and the way she always had her nails painted. She always kept her hands in perfect condition – all smooth and soft. If only he could bring her back… He sighed quietly to himself, he should have noticed something – she had been working for Red Flag - how could not have seen it? Hicks picked up the rubber band ball from his desk and rolled it around between his hands absent mindedly. And this new girl – she could kill them all and not even know it. He sighed again, throwing the ball at the door but it went wildly off target and bounced back, nearly hitting him in the face. He groaned in annoyance and picked the ball off the floor where it had fallen. He heard a knocking on his door and looked up. It was Rachel. He motioned for her to come in, and she stood in the doorway, leaning against it gently.

"Hey Rachel. What's up?"

"Hicks, I'm trying to work in there. Could you please stop sighing so much, it's putting me off"

"Sure, ok, whatever" he sighed again, and Rachel rolled her eyes and left the room. She saw Nina coming in the other direction and Rachel said

"Hey Nina?"

"Yes Rachel?" Nina stopped walking, and paused in front of Rachel's small form

"Can you talk to Hicks? He's being sad again and his constant sighing is putting me off work" Nina sighed his time, running her hand over her head and through her dark hair.

"I'll see what I can do. Thanks Rachel" Rachel nodded and stepped back into her own office. Nina knocked on the door of Hicks' office. He looked up sharply from the rubber band ball he had been fiddling with.

"What do you want, Nina?" he asked as she opened the door.

"Cameron, you need to sort yourself out." He glared at her a little and then sighed, leaning back in his chair. Nina walked in, closing the door behind her and leaning against his desk "I don't care how you do it, but you need to get over this. Take some time off, get a new hobby, whatever – but you really need to sort this out"

"How am I supposed to 'get over it'?! I loved Dani, and now she's dead! I should have done something! I should have helped her!" he shouted at her, his eyes ablaze. Nina simply stood there and looked at him. A realisation had just hit her. Hicks had finally found someone – she realised that Dani had been perfect for him. His hyperkinesis decreased and often got worse than a normal person's motor skills when he was sad or worried. Her powers had really helped him – she had noticed how happy he had been during the past months and now… well…. For one of the few times in her life she could really see Cameron. Really see him. She had always suspected that souls existed and now she could see his. He had bared it for her without even realising it. He was so sad and so angry at himself, at Rosen and at Dani. His body shook a little as he tried to hold in his emotions. He was always so closed off from his feelings and he had let them out little by little over the last few months to Dani. and now she was gone, it was like he had offered someone his hand and they had chopped it off. Nina moved closer to him and placed her hands on his face. She wasn't going to Push him

"Cameron. Listen to me" his eyes flickered a little and then stared into hers "Do _not_ bottle up your feelings. I don't care how you let them out – take up kick boxing or talk to a counselor I don't know. But if you don't get rid of this baggage now, its going to kill you from the inside and I swear to god I am not going to let that happen. If you don't want to talk to Rosen you can talk to me, or Bill, or Rachel – we all care about you Cameron and we don't want to see you like this" Hicks shut his eyes, a single tear spilling down his cheek. Hicks had never been a fan of emotional outbursts but the dam that had been holding his feelings back broke, and the tidal wave consumed him. His body racked with sobs and Nina held him close and his tears soaked into her brown sweater. He missed Dani so much and he had no idea how he was going to get through this. "You have to remember, we are all here to help you" she said quietly into his ear.


	6. Attack

As promised, a lovely long chapter! This one came to me on a whim on the train home. As always, thank you for all the views - as long as I know that someone out there likes what I write then I am a very happy person. Please R&R!

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A few weeks later and Emma had been accepted into the ranks. She had finally sorted out a small apartment for herself which was just a 20 minute walk from the office. She had been to various training sessions and was now qualified to go out into the field. And Dr Rosen had been helping her to control her abilities. The process was difficult, slow and frustrating but she was getting there. Hicks had taken up boxing to help himself and Gary was still getting used to a person having a signal. Emma was making her way back to her new apartment when it happened. The others had helped her bring some money together to afford the rent on the apartment and she had just bought some basic food stuffs and furniture using her first pay cheque. She was strolling along, feeling relatively safe, when she saw a man run past her and down the alleyway to her right. Emma heard a crash and frowned. She turned cautiously towards the alleyway and peered down. Right at the far end she could see a heap of rubbish and possibly a limb or two poking out from it. She wasn't sure if the man was ok, so she went down the alley to check.

"Excuse me?" she heard a muffled groan "are you alright?" the pile groaned again and she moved some of the rubbish with one hand, still carrying her groceries in the other. Emma revealed the man's face which was smiling wickedly at her "wha-" her question was cut off by a hand smothering her mouth and nose. She dropped her food and screamed as she started to suffocate. She tried to fight against this person but the other man grabbed her legs and stopped her from moving. She willed herself to use her abilities but nothing happened. Her screaming died down as she lost consciousness and slid to dirty concrete floor of the alley.

Emma woke up somewhere dark, dank and squalid. She was lying, shivering on a cold concrete floor with her wrists and ankles bound together with what felt like duct tape. She tried to move herself into a more comfortable position and an overhead light flickered on letting out an orange glow that didn't quite make it to the four corners of the square room. She heard a door open, and she shuffled around to see an averagely heighted man entering, carrying a tripod and camera. The man was wearing jeans and t-shirt, covered by a leather jacket. He had short brown hair and he sneered at her as he walked past. He set it up the camera front of her, and while he was doing this Emma was thinking of ways out. She could try to use her ability but although she now had some degree of control over it, it was not enough for what she needed to do. She could stay here and work out who this man was and what he wanted. Or she could try to escape without her abilities. None of these options seemed particularly agreeable to her so she picked the best out of the three. Looking down at herself, she realised that despite the fact that she was clothed, her shoes and socks were gone and what she was wearing was dirty and ripped. She could see some grazes on her arms but otherwise she seemed fine. Emma rotated her shoulders a little as the man wound up the tripod to chest height. Very quickly she pulled her bound hands over her head from behind her back biting back a moan at the pain. Now she had her arms in front of her and that was what she wanted. She stood up awkwardly as her feet were still tied together and readied herself. He had almost finished setting up the camera and still had his back to her when she flipped herself backwards, landing on her hands. Emma pushed back on them and launched her entire body at him, feet first. Her body weight plus a fair amount of momentum sent the man flying into the wall opposite as she jumped of his back, landed on her hands again and flipped upright. The man looked surprised for a second and then stood up quickly. He snarled at her and rubbed his hands together. He jumped at her and she tried to flip away but his hands caught her legs. Emma cried out in pain as he somehow burnt through her jeans and started burning her shins. She dropped to the floor as he let go, crying as the skin bubbled at the heat.

"Well that was stupid" he said as she lay there curled up in the foetal position. He pulled some duct tape out of his pocket and put several strips over her mouth. He did this with her wrists and ankles too so that she could barely move. He dragged her back in front of the camera and turned it on. Emma heard the click and felt cold metal being pressed against her head. She was terrified.

"Kat have you seen Emma?" Rosen asked at 9:23 that morning

"Nope" came Kat's reply from her office. Rosen was worried. Emma was never late for work or anything for that matter.

"I want everyone in the conference room, now" he said loudly enough for everyone to hear. Soon everyone was sitting at the respective places at the conference table staring at him.

"Dr Rosen, what's wrong?" Rachel asked

"It's Emma. She isn't here."

"Maybe she's sick" said Hicks

"She would call, or at least send an email. I think something has happened to her."

"Wait, wait Dr Rosen!" said Gary quickly his fingers twiddling with the signals

"What is it Gary?"

"Look at this" he flicked his fingers towards the television in the corner of the room and a picture burst to life on the screen. "This is live and I can trace it. Look its Emma – but I can't find her signal" his said pointing at the screen. Rosen leaned in close to see Scipio and Emma in a small concrete room. Emma was bound and gagged with some nasty burns on her legs. She was crying freely as Scipio was holding a gun to the side of her head. Dr Rosen's eyes widened in fear for the girl. He grabbed his laptop and said "Gary can you link me up to that camera?"

"Sure" Gary's fingers twirled and Rosen's laptop was now transmitting his voice to the camera in the room

"Scipio! Let her go"

"Oh hey Dr Rosen. Nice of you to join us" Rosen picked up a pad of paper and wrote something on it.

"Please Scipio, leave her alone" he passed the paper to Bill – _take Gary and Hicks get him to follow the signal and get her out of there_ – Bill passed this around and then nodded to Rosen, he, Hicks and Gary left the room at once.

"Oh but I don't want to do that. And neither does my employer" Rosen sighed – Stanton Parish.

"What do you want from her? You want me don't you?"

"No we don't want you. We have heard of how much power she has and want to try her out"

"She can't control her powers yet! Her episodes are random you can't just make them happen!"

"We'll see about that. And good luck finding us!" he laughed and turned off the camera. Rosen pulled out his phone and dialled Hicks' number

"Doc?" came Cameron's voice after the second ring "we've just lost the signal and Gary can't find what he had before. We only have a general idea as to where she is"

"Where?"

"South east, about 100 klicks" Rosen sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. They would never find her until the signal came back.

"Keep travelling down there. When you get there call me. If Scipio comes back I'll tell you" the phone line went dead and he dropped into his chair, snapping his cell phone shut.

"Dr Rosen, what do we do?" he shook his head at her

"I don't know Rachel. We are helpless, we can't find her and there is literally nothing we can do about it"

For the first time in her life, Emma really wanted her power to work, but there was nothing. Scipio turned off the camera and took the gun away from the side of her head. Her body shook with relief for a moment Scipio turned back round, and punched her in the face, hard. Emma slid several metres and into a concrete wall. She bounced off, cutting her head in the process. It started to bleed, dripping into her brown hair. She shook her head, her wide eyes pleading him not to hurt her. He swung his foot back and kicked her in the stomach. She screamed against the tape covering her mouth at the pain blossoming in her abdomen. She prayed that someone would help her. Scipio grabbed her by the hair and lifted her up as she barely supported herself.

"I'm going to have some fun with you" he snarled into her ear, and she whimpered in fright at the harsh words. "Parish said I could do whatever I liked as long as I got your powers working" he dropped her to the floor and started to rip at her clothes.

Several hours later Gary sat bolt upright in the back of the car

"I've found the signal again!" he exclaimed. Hicks immediately speed dialled Rosen's number

"We've got him doc"

"Go then!" Gary started giving directions and Bill started breaking speed limits. Rosen's laptop had been on when he received the call, but this time he only had sound.

"Scipio?"

"What's up Doc?" Scipio laughed at himself "How you doing?"

"What did you do to her?"

"Oh we just had a little fun" Scipio laughed again "Her powers still aren't working though"

"I told you, you can't force this! Let her go! Whatever you have done to her I will make you regret it!"

"Good fucking luck doc" he said, turning off the microphone just as Bill and Hicks burst into the room carrying guns and wearing fire proof jackets. Scipio turned quickly to face them, setting his hands ablaze. Hicks barely looked as he fired his gun, hitting Scipio in the shoulder. The force of the bullet made him spin like at top but he stayed standing, swaying a little as blood spurted from the hole in his shoulder and he looked down in shock. Bill rushed forward, scooping up Emma's small unconscious form in his large arms and carrying her quickly out of the room.

"Com'on Hicks!" she shouted behind him. Hicks paused indecisively for a moment and then ran out of the room, slamming the door behind him. They made it to the car quickly and lay Emma gently down in the back with Gary.

"She's naked!" Gary complained, but Bill had barely noticed because they were not out of the firing range yet. Hicks pulled off his fire proof jacket and then his normal jacket and placed them over Emma's shivering form.

"Go! Go! Go!" he shouted at Bill, who reversed the SUV around a corner and sped off back to the office.

For the second time in her life, Emma woke up on the exam bed in The Office. There was a dull aching in her head and stomach and for a moment she couldn't work out what had happened. Then it all came flooding back – the alley, Scipio, the fighting. She shuddered at the things she remembered and then started to cry, rolling onto her side as she did so. Rosen walked in about five minutes later

"Emma, are you alright?" Emma said nothing but continued to sob. He moved to touch her shoulder but she backed away in fear. Rosen held up his hands "Emma, what happened?" she shook her head at him trying to communicate her message. "You don't want to or you can't?" she shook her head again "You can't". She lay there shaking on the exam bed as her tears stopped. Her eyes were still wide with this irrational fear of Rosen. He knelt beside the bed so that he was at eye level with her "please, just tell me something" he pleaded with her. She took a trembling breath and curled herself up into a ball. The word the escaped her mouth turned Rosen's blood cold

"R-r-rape" she whispered and she squeezed her eyes shut as she tried not to remember what had happened to her.

"Oh my god" he said out loud – he had underestimated Parish – he had no idea how far this man would go to get what he wanted. He stood up straight and went to the glass cabinet taking out a couple of small jars of transparent liquids. Emma watched as he filled a syringe with the liquids and stepped towards her. "Emma, this is a mild sedative mixed with some other things to stop you from… well…" Emma finished off the sentence in her head "you need to sleep and let your body heal for a while" she nodded. She laid out an arm for him and he saw the burns that traced all the way along it. She winced as he pushed the tip of the needle into her elbow and forced the liquid into her blood stream. Ten seconds later Emma allowed herself to fall unconscious. Rosen left the room a very angry man. He had always been quite a peaceful person, preferring to talk things out rather than fighting back but right now he felt like punching something. His legs were shaking a little as he made his way to his office. Rachel was already in there, waiting for him.

"Dr Rosen, are you ok?" she asked, her voice full of concern

"No I am not ok Rachel, I am extremely angry" Rachel's eyes widened in surprise – she had never seen the old doctor that angry before. She looked a little more closely and saw the anger in his eyes and the way his whole body was shaking. Rosen sat down in his chair and closed his eyes.

"Rosen, what happened to Emma? I mean apart from getting beaten by Scipio. There's something else that has made you angry isn't there?" Rosen breathed deep and allowed the breath to travel the length of his spine – this was a very advanced yoga technique he had taught himself.

"Tell me Rachel, what do you think, could be the worst thing that could every happen to you?" she looked at him thoughtfully for a moment

"To see the people I love be killed or die around me, and it being my fault"

"Ok, now put yourself in Emma's shoes. Pretty much everything you just said has already happened to her. She doesn't have any family left and she has only been here a little while so hasn't bonded with us properly yet. What's the worst thing that could happen to you?"

"I don't know. Maybe if I got seriously ill or something. Why are you making me guess?" Rosen leaned forward to look in her eyes

"Emma was raped." Rachel hands flew to her face, covering her mouth "it was Scipio" a tear rolled down her cheek. Rachel had always been quite an emotional person and had found she had a kind of connection with Emma from the start. She felt so sad for Emma after everything that had happened to her.

"Why?"

"Red Flag were trying to set off her powers. Apparently Parish said that Scipio could do whatever he liked as long as he got the job done"

"And that included…"

"Yes" he confirmed for her "goodness knows what this has done psychologically to her. She is going to have to take some time off to heal physically – she's covered in burns, has some internal bleeding and half of her face has swelled up. I think we need to keep her in a familiar environment and under observation so she can stay in the office again for a while."


	7. Taking control

Hello my lovely readers! Here lies a new chapter especially for you. I hope you enjoyed the last one it took me a while to get it right even though I knew what I wanted to happen. Anyways, I am very excited to have reached over 200 views (which is more than can be said for my other fic which sucks) and I have checked the graph and people are actually reading all the way to the most recent chapter, so thank you! By the way any suggestions for new alpha abilities are most, and as always please R&R! xx

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A couple of weeks later and Emma was slowly recovering. Gary was in his office, playing with the colours that ran past his eyes. He had never met anyone quite like Emma – someone with their own signal. He stared at hers for a moment as it wandered past at eye level – he could see it now because she was so close. When she moved further away the signal got thinner. He frowned as it started to change colour – something else that wasn't possible – from that bright blue that he had gotten used to, into something darker, more green. Gary jumped out of his comfy chair and ran out of his door

"Dr Rosen!" he called, jogging down the corridor. He saw Rosen practically fall out of his office and fumbling about as he tried to lock the door.

"Gary! Run the other way – into the conference room!" he shouted back and Gary heard a thud from in his office. Rosen ran over to Bill's office "put us in lockdown. Now!" Bill didn't bother asking questions, he just started pushing buttons. "Everyone! Conference room!" they all heard the edge in his voice and moved immediately. Bill was last in and locked the door behind them

"Doc, what the hell have you done?" Hicks asked as they felt the floor shake

"Emma's having an episode" Bill turned sharply to him from barricading the door with chairs. "I have locked the door, but I don't know if that will hold her"

"How?"

"She hasn't had one in while. I was trying to ask her some questions about the incident she had two weeks ago. She started to talk about it and then… well" he gestured to the general direction of his office. "She told me to run"

"We need to incapacitate her" Bill interjected as he closed the shutters in the room and locked the door, attempting to barricade it with chairs. "How can we do that doc?"

"We can't. We need to wait for her to either stop or pass out"

"How long is that going to take?" Nina asked

"I don't know Nina – ten minutes? Two hours?" they heard a splintering of wood as Emma broke through the door of Rosen's office. Everyone looked at Rosen. He sat there for a moment thinking hard – he had been helping her to control her powers before the attack.

"I'm going to try and talk to her" he concluded

"Doc! No! She doesn't recognise you – she's going to kill you!" objected Bill. The old doctor turned sharply to him

"It's worth a try" Bill stared at him for a moment an then sighed, moving the chairs away and unlocking the door. Emma flew past, slamming into the glass blast shield and bouncing back several feet.

"Emma?" she looked up sharply from the floor and jumped up. She started to run at him and he dodged out of her way – she crashed into the wall. "Please Emma listen to me!" he shouted as she got up again. She was much closer now and it was going to be harder for him to doge her. She flew at him again but this time Bill jumped out of the conference room. He felt the adrenaline jolt through him just as he stepped out and grabbed the girl around the middle in big arms and she nearly knocked him over. She fought and struggled against him but he refused to let go as she shouted intelligible nonsense at him.

"Emma if you are still in there please try to remember who you are!" Rosen said into her ear "please Emma. You can't let this over run you. You have control. Just take it!" Emma froze for a moment and then her body began to shake in Bill's arms as she started to sob uncontrollably into his shirt. She had taken control. Bill knelt, lowering them both to the carpeted floor. She continued to cry for a while as Bill held her, making quiet shushing noises. Everyone else crept out of the conference room.

"Her signal is yellow!" Gary exclaimed not really understanding the seriousness of the situation. Rosen stood

"Nina could you take us out of lockdown. Hicks, Kat, Rachel – get back to your offices. Gary stay here for a moment, please" he knelt back down beside Emma.

"That was very brave of you Emma" he said quietly

"I-I'm s-s-o sor-ry" she hiccupped out. Rosen noticed a cut on her forehead where some of the wood from the door had caught her.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. Come on, let's get you cleaned up" Bill simply lifted up her small form and carried her easily to the medical room. "Gary I want you to come too" Gary loped alongside them. Bill dropped Emma gently onto the exam bed as Rosen fetched some antiseptic and bandages. "Thank you Bill you can go now" Bill left, closing the door behind him. Rosen perched himself on the side of the bed and started dabbing at Emma's forehead. "Now Gary. Did you say that Emma's signal changed colour?"

"Yeah. Just before it was blue, but then it went green. And when she stopped it went yellow and now it's blue again" Emma's eyes widened

"Gary?" she asked "can you go into my office and get my sketchpad please. I have something I want to show you" Gary left and came back a moment later with Emma's sketchpad. She flipped over the first few pages

"Hey that's me!" he said excitedly, pointing at a picture. Emma smiled a little and then opened up a picture. She had drawn herself. She was curled up in a ball with what looked like blue flames floating off her body.

"Does that look like what you see?" Gary frowned at the picture for a moment. For a while now she had been asking him questions about what he saw and what the signals looked like.

"Yeah – that exactly what you look like. Except now it's kind of a pale blue"

"So depending on your emotional state there is colour change." Said Rosen. "Gary do you think that you could give us a clearer warning as to when Emma might have another episode?"

"The colours change quite quickly – i probably could only give a couple of minutes worth of warning"

"Alright thank you Gary, you can go now" Gary left and Emma stared intently at Dr Rosen

"Are you alright Dr Rosen?" she asked

"I'm fine Emma. Why?"

"I didn't hurt you in any way?"

"No you didn't. Don't worry Emma, I wouldn't blame you even if you had. Do you remember anything?"

"No. just talking to you and then Bill afterwards, thank goodness for him" Rosen finished dabbing at her cut with antiseptic and placed some sticky strips over it to hold the skin together as it healed. "Dr Rosen, we need to sort this out"

"What?" Lee was confused for a moment

"I know that you have been helping me to try and control my powers. But I know that everyone here is still worried. I may have been accepted as part of the team, but the others are still uneasy around me. I can see it in their eyes and furtive glances – I don't want it to be like this. I need to learn how to turn my abilities on as well as off. I need to use my powers to _my_ advantage. And currently I am still a liability to you"

"Emma, you are no-" Emma sat up straight so that she was face to face with Rosen

"Dr Rosen, we both know that that's a lie. You saw what just happened – I could have killed all of you. And what happened two weeks ago – if I had been able to turn my abilities on then maybe I could have got away sooner. I'm not a little girl in a green dress anymore. I need to learn how to work on both sides of this so the people around me don't have to worry and I can sort myself out." Rosen sighed and rubbed his temples tiredly.

"Do you really think you are ready for this?" she nodded "for now I want you to rest. Get up and take a walk about when you feel ready. You are free to stay here tonight but if you want to go home I would suggest asking Bill or Nina to give you a ride" Emma closed her eyes conceding his point and lay back down on the rubber of the exam bed. Rosen stood up, tidying away his medical equipment and left. He made his way back to his office and closed the door behind him. Sitting down in his chair he took of his glasses and rubbed his eyes. I need to retire, he thought. He was losing his way he could feel it. It could take ten days or ten years, but at some point he was just going to lose it. With Dani gone there was so much missing. Rosen looked at the picture on his desk of his daughter, smiling affectionately at him. What was he going to do without her? Everything that had happened he blamed himself for. He was broken out of his morose mood by a knock on the door. It was Bill. He motioned for Bill to come in and the large man sat in the chair opposite.

"We need to talk"


End file.
